1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of slide fasteners, and more particularly to an apparatus for automatically closing a plurality of longitudinally spaced slide fastener coupling element chains partly disengaged upon automatized threading of sliders on the respective chains through element-free spaces disposed between the successive chains.
2. Prior Problem
In the manufacture of slide fasteners, a pair of contiguous slide fastener stringers is partly separated or disengaged when a slider is threaded on each of a plurality of longitudinally spaced chains of interengaged coupling elements from an element-free portion disposed between the successive chains, and then the fastener stringers are severed at the element-free space to thereby produce a slide fastener of an individual length.
Due to the threading of slider, the coupling element chain is partly separated or disengaged and hence the slide fastener is flared at one end. The slide fastener having such flared end portion cannot easily be attached by sewing to a garment such as trousers. With the foregoing difficulty in view, there has been a desire for an apparatus capable of automatically closing the chains of partly disengaged coupling elements subsequent to threading of the sliders on the respective chains.